The Disclosure Generation

Over the last week, I came across the logic defying statistic that the overwhelming majority of voters 18-24 are not registered to vote. At a staggering 61%, one has to wonder why there is such a gap in participation and enthusiasm among these voters. There are articles published about it and, the pundits have weighed-in. Everyone seems to have some theory about why no one has been able to reach them. In 2008, it was at least in part due to these new voters that Obama swept the popular vote as well as the 270 Electoral votes needed to win the White House. So why the lack of interest 4 years later in a race that’s tighter than anyone could have anticipated? Maybe it’s what they know and, most of the rest of us don’t.
There is an underlying issue in who occupies positions of authority that the generation disparity speaks to without knowing it does. We’re not just talking about the Facebook generation. (If you’ve been paying attention to social media, Facebook is now for old people. Twitter and Instagram have captured the young.) We’re talking about what Facebook gave birth to. We’re talking about the full disclosure generation.
The beauty of having a Relationship Expert in the family is that there is never a shortage of analyzing why people do things. The fact that she happens to have teenagers provides a non-stop supply of material for discussion. It’s no secret that, among young people, there is an overwhelming distrust of the older generations. The question is why. Why don’t they trust us? Why do they seem  so disinterested in what we have to say? Why don’t they care?
There has been an enduring what is wrong with “them” conversation. It’s nothing new every generation has it. Be it rebellion from what their parents say, believe or say that they believe, the next generation has always had difficultly relating to the prior. This generation takes the cake. This isn’t beach music versus Elvis. This is a cultural shift based on the ready availability of information. Nothing is too personal. The freer one is about disclosing and divulging the more it’s gobbled up. What was once taboo is now imperative if you want their support. Lady Gaga has mythically captured this sentiment and rode it all the way to being the most famous woman on earth (at least according to how many Twitter followers she has). For a generation (Boomers) that pride themselves on decorum, comportment and appropriateness this generation prides itself in putting it all out there, “Girls Gone Wild”, style.
It’s not exactly shocking that this is happening. Less so if you pay attention to what has legs in the media and what doesn’t. Scandals aren’t what gets people’s attention. Coverup does. For young people, there is an allergy to the cover up. They’re not interested in what someone says. They want to know who you are behind closed doors. They want a reality TV window into your life. They want to know if you’re authentic. They’re OK with your flaws. They’re OK with you lying. Just not about lying about being a liar.
There is a certain amount of grit that you have to respect. It is in the love affair that they have with “realness”. There is an interest in where you came for, what you stand for and whether it is relatable to my experience of the world. The current political climate is missing that. It’s missing the general upheaval that young people offer, the almost nuclear energy, the passion, the dogmatic persistence to do things on their own terms. Politics now is pandering, canned leftovers, trying too hard to reach the middle and too afraid to knock it out of the park. It’s brainwashing; it’s boring; it doesn’t fall into the unrelenting pace of the digitally plugged in who sleep with their cell phones and pay for their Starbucks with an iPad app. To them, last week was ages ago and, nothing lasts longer than the span of the 160 characters you can tweet.
While the campaigns keep looking for depth and profundity, they’re not. That’s not because they lack depth or commitment. They just don’t buy it. They know that it’s only as good as the time stamp attached to it. They know that it has no legs. It’s just the cover up and, the real story will come out at some point. They understand that their confirmation bias hasn’t been wrong yet, so why start questioning their instincts now. They’re looking for the Eminem rap battle moment. Until they find a candidate willing to put it all out there, they’re not biting no matter how you bait the hook.  They don’t want you to come out swinging; they want you to come out Freak Flag flying and proud of it.
That kind of disclosure scares the hell out of Boomers. Maybe because it shows no shame, maybe because when they grew up people kept their business to themselves and abhorred the idea of what the neighbors might say. Boomers still believe in personal embarrassment. Boomers confuse shared priorities with shared methodology. Given that the premise of this generation is a self-assertive declaration and refusal to be bullied, stay in closets, keep secrets or hide in the shadows, this generation can’t understand why anyone should feel ashamed of whom they are. They are proud of what their story is and refuse to accept that anyone else gets the right criticize that.
This is the generation of divorced parents. They have watched up close and personal what happens when people pretend to be things they’re not. This is the generation of therapy where fixing the problem receives greater investment than preventing it. This is a generation that learned the hard way that if you wait for it, it’s going to all come out anyway so why not put it out there yourself. The only way this generation is going to take part in the political process is when politics stops being about who gives great photo-op and, gets real. This is the Disclosure Generation. They’re not afraid to tweet it.